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Category Archives: financial planning
Does Your Financial Plan Pass the Sleep Test?
Members of the Greatest Generation, my grandparents came of age during the Depression, a period marked by severe distrust of financial institutions and an extreme aversion to risk. After my grandfather died, my grandmother had to manage her finances for the rest of her life, 28 more years. The way she handled her money reflected her upbringing, her deep dislike of risk and her commitment to her goals. Continue reading
Posted in financial planning
Tagged financial plan, financial planning, grandmother, investing, savings, sleep
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What is the Fiduciary Standard and Why Do I Care?
What is a fiduciary, and what does this mean when I’m looking for a financial adviser?
You may or may not have heard about the debate with regards to the fiduciary standard, and the Department of Labor’s attempt to make changes to reflect today’s financial advisory landscape. This article will take you through a quick primer on the law that created the fiduciary standard, who the fiduciary standard applies to, and how the fiduciary standard compares to what you’ll see in the marketplace. In essence, we’ll discuss what the fiduciary standard SHOULD mean to you, as the consumer of financial advice, and what you should be looking for. Continue reading
Posted in financial planning
Tagged adv, department of labor, dol, fiduciary, fiduciary standard, financial adviser, investment advisers act, sec
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Weekend Wrap-up: Military Personal Finance Articles You Should Read (3/18-3/24)
This issue starts with a couple of Kate Horrell articles:
Texas law changes for military homeowners
Tax changes when you retire
LIFE: An Acronym to Live By (actually a guest post by USAA’s JJ Montanaro)
From there, we have 10 Keys to Proper Estate Planning, by Michael Chamberlain. Also, since it’s tax season, it’s not too late to Continue reading
Job Risk Mindset After Retirement – What to Consider When Starting Your Second Career
While I normally try to write to people looking to either retire or separate, this article is intended for people who plan to retire. However, there are some items of consideration for separating members as well. This article is the … Continue reading
Three Reasons You Should Stay Local After Transitioning From the Military
There comes a time in everyone’s life where they have to make the decision to get out of the military. Whether it’s retirement or separation, everyone will eventually have to part ways with their service. In doing so, they will … Continue reading
My Personal Experience With the Post 9/11 GI Bill
When the Post 9/11 GI Bill was signed into law in 2008, one of the first things that I did was review the Navy’s instructions for transferring benefits to my children. At the time, one of the stipulations was that I had to agree to an additional 4 years & sign a Page 13 (Administrative Remarks) that started the clock. I knew that I was planning to retire, but I wanted to start the clock as soon as possible so I did not have that hanging over my head. In my opinion, this turned out to be a stroke of fortune, as I’ve talked with several of my colleagues at other commands who were burned because the paperwork wasn’t routed properly (probably a shock, since the military is known for making sure the paperwork doesn’t get lost, right?). In one case, a shipmate had to postpone his retirement because he reached the 20-year mark before he realized that his paperwork got lost, and the time he was tracking did not count. Continue reading
Three Things to Consider About a VA Loan
1. You can finance up to 100%, but should you?
Lenders generally require a 20% down payment on the purchase of a home, or they will require that the borrower obtain private mortgage insurance. This is to protect the bank’s investment in the case of a default. However, there is another argument that can be made: ‘skin in the game’ is an important consideration. Continue reading
Retirement Journal – January 2016
This is the second in my series of retirement journal blog posts. In case you missed my first article, you can read it here. Although this post isn’t an update on my personal situation, I wanted to cover something that … Continue reading
What You Should Know About the Affordable Care Act & Form 1095
If you’re like me, you might have spent some time wondering about that new 1095 form. You know, the one that DFAS will start dropping into our MyPay accounts by the end of January. Don’t know what I’m talking about? … Continue reading
Three Things to Consider About the Thrift Savings Plan
TSP has the lowest investment costs of any investment vehicle out there. Take a look at Vanguard. Vanguard is generally regarded as the mutual fund industry’s low-cost leader due to its quantities of scale. When compared to their Vanguard counterparts TSP index funds are a fraction of even those. Let’s compare a $1,000 investment in the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund (.17% expense ratio) to the TSP C Fund (.029% expense ratio). That means for a $1,000 investment, Vanguard will charge $1.70 per year, while TSP charges 29 cents! By the way, in the mutual fund industry, an annual expense ratio below 1% is generally all right. However, index-tracking funds such as these should be below .5%, so you can see that Vanguard & TSP are both well below the industry standard. But TSP is better. Continue reading
Military in Transition 